Johnson comes on strong for Marlins

JUPITER, Fla. — Josh Johnson labored through another difficult inning in spring training, then found what he had been looking for: his rhythm. The Florida Marlins ace allowed one run in 3.2 innings Monday against the Atlanta Braves and was pleased with his progress. "It takes me a while," Johnson said. "Finally one pitch felt really good, and I was like, 'There we go.' Then things fall into place and I don't have to think about it." Johnson gave up five runs in his only previous spring start and surrendered a run to the Braves in the first inning. He shut them out after that, giving up three hits and one walk while throwing 67 pitches. Bryan Petersen drove in a run in the 10th inning to give Florida a 4-3 victory. Johnson was the NL ERA champion last season, but he sat out the final month because of back and shoulder problems, and he was annoyed about his rough outing last week. "It's not going to come right away, but I was frustrated for sure," he said. "You don't want to go out there and look like that. I was a lot better today." Tim Hudson started for the Braves and allowed one run in three innings. He gave up four hits and walked two but said pitching with runners on base wasn't all bad. "Obviously you like clean innings, but it's good this time of year to have situations where you need to bear down and make pitches and get out of jams," Hudson said. "They don't count for much, but it's nice to get that kind of situation where you have to turn it up a little bit. You definitely don't want the first time you get in a jam to be during the season." Former Braves infielder Omar Infante had two hits off Hudson. "He needs to make the club over there, so I tried to help him out," Hudson said with a smile. Infante improved his average to .385 and actually is certain of a starting job. The game was the first against the Marlins for Fredi Gonzalez since they fired him last June. Now the manager of the Braves, Gonzalez said he had no hard feelings about his time with Florida. "Good memories," Gonzalez said. "The first time I got to manage a team was here, so it's good. And I get another opportunity. Not very many people get one; I've gotten two. I feel blessed." Before the game, Gonzalez was greeted warmly by the Marlins, including his replacement, Edwin Rodriguez. Rodriguez said that when he first took the job last season, Gonzalez called him several days in a row in support. "He was trying to help me out with the whole situation," Rodriguez said. "He was asking me, 'Do you need any help?' He doesn't have to do that, especially with the situation he went through, but knowing Fredi it didn't surprise me. He's a class act." Hanley Ramirez went 2 for 2 for Florida to hike his average to .462. John Buck had two hits and two RBIs. Atlanta's Nate McLouth hit his first home run of spring training off Leo Nunez. Freddie Freeman went 3 for 3 and is batting .458.

SUBSCRIBE to the Statesboro Herald print edition or online e-Edition and get EXCLUSIVE news and information online with complete access to all complete stories on statesboroherald.com. Now you'll have Soundoff, Local Birth Announcements and columnists like Jan Moore, Larry Sheehy, Kathy Bradley, John Bressler and Holli Bragg. Also, Letters to the Editor, Local Editorials and many new exclusive items will all be there just for you! And, when you're away from home, you can read the paper page by page anywhere, anytime from your computer with your subscription.